If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Masters Degree in Web Design/Development?

Hey All,

I was hoping to get some professional input/opinions on something I have been thinking about and considering lately but am not sure its worth it or if the industry moves too quickly that it would be a waste. A quick background, I have a four year degree in PR & Advertising but the majority of my work was in PR, a field in which I hated. After two consecutive employers I worked for went under 3-4 years ago, I went back to school to pursue a Diploma in Web Design and Development, a field in which I was always interested in and am glad I made this decision.

I have been working in the field for 3-4 years now and really love it, I wake up each morning not dreading work and when I am at work and doing web related tasks, I love it. With all this said, I want to challenge myself and continue to grow/learn new things and have been considering either taking some classes at a local community college in courses such as PHP and Javascript to better round out those skills or even obtain a Masters Degree in the field which will take longer and be more costly but hopefully return the financial stability and knowledge I truly want and will get me further in the field.

All this said, in your opinion, is it worth it seeking out a Masters Degree in Web Design/Development? Would a Masters in something like Graphic Design be better because it is more focused and may not change as much or quickly like languages and techniques do in Web Design/Development? Or is perks that come with it not really worth it in the long run and would I be better suited taking courses and learning on the side through tutorials and some local courses here and there. I am a visual learner and get the most out of a learning experience by being able to interact with people and seeing things done first and going from there. I think if I went the Masters route, it would have to be Online and that raises a whole load of more questions since I got my Web Design/Development Diploma online and though I learned a bunch, I mostly only took things away as far as HTML/XHTML/CSS are concerned. Any of the PHP I learned, outside of using Includes, I don't know or remember, I also never was taught Javascript which I feel is an absolute must for my career going forward. Not to mention, with the new coding languages of HTML5 and CSS3 I really feel I need to push in that direction but I want to make sure I have the proper foundations first.

Re:Masters Degree

Its good that you found you true calling so to speak, and that you wish to learn more there is no doubting the fact that the more knowledge you poses the better it would be for you to come up in life. I would definitely say that you should go in for your Masters learning program, learn more. Also get to learn more of web tools that would help you in website development. My best wishes for you endeavor.